Packing Tips for Living in London

Packing to move to London is an adventure in itself. Yet they have 4 seasons in one day so what the hell do you pack. Okay. Bit of a hot tip here, you don’t have to pack everything that’s in your wardrobe. They do have shops and you can buy stuff that you’ve forgotten. Now what I’m going to do is try to give you some handy hints of what you should take but the rest is up to you, whatever you feel comfortable with, just don’t pack the kitchen sink.

Now you probably want to take 2 bags, a big suitcase to fit all your clunky stuff in and a backpack because if you’re traveling around Europe, a backpack is going to be the way to go not the wheeled luggage. So if you’ve never been away, there are some substandard things that you definitely need to pack. Let’s start with passport and visa. Two big checks that you cannot forget otherwise there’s no point in getting on the plane. So you’ve got your passport. Pack that in your hand luggage. Definitely need your tickets if they’re not A tickets because you also won’t be getting on the plane if you don’t have those. Photocopy everything and leave a copy with your mom or your dad or your grandparents or your best friend just in case something happens to your documentation and you need to get to an embassy and they need to have a copy to be safe.

Once you’ve got the stuff that’s going to get you into the country and all that boring stuff, what do you really need to pack to survive when you get to London? Okay my hot tip, travel adapters because they have different plugs over in England, in case you didn’t know. Mobile phone if it is unlocked, it’ll take any SIM card and save you buying one. Flip flops or thongs because they are about 20 pounds over here and that’s just ridiculous for a pair of thongs. Don’t forget your Ipod, your camera obviously, any learning permit that you’ll need to travel the world with. Probably essentials like, okay, work gear, now where are you working and what is the work dress code because it’s best to bring a suit or hard hat or whatever it is you need because you don’t want to buy that boring stuff when you’re over here. You want to go shopping for fun things.

Think about the weather. When are you going to London? If you’re going in the dead of winter, which is probably the cheapest time to go, you will need to bring a big coat because you can buy them obviously over here from everywhere even at odd shops you can get them for about 8 pounds but again that is money that you’re outlaying as soon as you get to London which you may not want to do. So if you can fit a big coat in great. If you’re coming in summer, even better. Don’t worry about the big coat because you’ll be able to make enough money to buy one once it become winter just bring some light jumpers. The key to London packing is layers. Because there’s 4 seasons in one day, layer it up. You want singlets, you want jerseys, you want jumpers and you want jackets.

What are you going to do with all the stuff you need to survive over in London? How do you pack it into these 2 suitcases? I roll. Apparently supposed to fit 50% more in if you roll but you can layer, fold, do whatever makes you feel comfortable as long as it’s easily accessible because if you’re overweight at the airport, they will make you take things out. Now at the moment you can take about 22kg or va in Quantis but bring them just to make sure because you don’t want to be overweight. Even weigh your suitcase before you leave.

So you’ve packed but there are a few things you need to do before you go. Go and visit your dentist. Go and visit your doctor. Get their details because if you want to join the NHS, which is their health system over here, you’ll need to give them your doctor’s data. Handy to have anyway. Get a bank statement from your bank account and probably one from the actual teller because you might need that when you enter immigration. They do ask how much is in your bank account so they don’t think that you’re budging. Immigration can be an absolute bitch so whatever you can do to make sure you get through customs easily is a big help. Once you’ve done all of that, pack everything, repack and pack again and make sure you count because it is best to pack three times because you probably won’t need what you first packed and once you’ve done that and you’ve weighed it yourself, you’re ready to go but don’t worry if you haven’t packed it you can buy it.